Sunday, June 4, 2023
By Rob Morris on May 21, 2019
Have you ever noticed how many sayings there are telling you that waiting is a good thing? It was worth the wait. Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait.
Who was saying these things and what did they think was so marvelous about delayed gratification?
We live in a modern world where answers are available anytime at the tips of our fingers or at the words “Hey Siri,” if you’re too impatient to type. Brick and mortar stores are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Anything the world over is available online and free two-day shipping could be added to the Bill of Rights. The time is now!
But is that a good thing?
Maybe we should just pause for a moment and appreciate what’s in front of us instead of rushing to the next thing.
I’m just as guilty as the next person when it comes to dashing off to something new; I’m practically a magpie. However, something that has helped me slow down and focus is considering how what I’m looking at was made and the effort that went into it. It’s mind-blowing to consider how many people worked all along the chain for me to possess or consume a single item.
Since our society has come to depend on cheap goods that travel so far to reach their destination, what can the future hold for local handmade goods?
Thankfully, people far more clever than I am have found a way for traditional handcrafted goods to sneak their way back into prominence, coexisting side by side with modern technology.
Etsy, Facebook and other online markets are making it easier than ever to sell handmade goods to customers anywhere on earth. Customers who not only appreciate the difference between mass-produced and handmade but are willing to pay a living wage for it. As a society, we are celebrating the value of products that took time and skill to craft and were made well.
Naturally, I’m thrilled this shift is happening because every product we make at the Weeping Radish not only takes time to produce but also relies on ingredients that were handcrafted.
A batch of beer takes hours to brew and weeks to age. The hops and barley that went into the batch took months to grow and the skill of farmers and maltsters to be ready for our brewer. Making sausages is an all-day affair with the bacon and pastrami clocking in at nearly three days; fermented and cured products are on a time frame all their own! The products in our retail counter rely on years of experience and a lifetime of dedication from the North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association to humanely raise certified Animal Welfare Approved, Free-Range, and antibiotic free hogs.
It’s a better life for the animals and a better product for the consumer. It just takes a little more time.
So cheers to the Slow Food Movement! Long live true Artisans! Hurry up and slow down. Appreciate the time it takes to make something worth enjoying.
At the Weeping Radish, our products are worth the wait, and remember: life is too short to drink bad beer!
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